Muztagh Ata (meaning 'Ice Mountain Father' in English), formerly known as Mount Tagharma and Wi-tagh, is the second highest of the mountains which form the northern edge of the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

, with an elevation of . It is sometimes regarded as being part of the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...

, although physically it is more closely connected to the

Pamirs The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia. They are located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among ...

. It is one of the relatively easier 7,000 m peaks in the world to climb, due to its gentle western slope and the comparatively drier weather of

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, though a thorough acclimatization period and a very strong physical condition are crucial for success.

Location

Muztagh Ata lies just south of

Kongur Tagh The Kongur Tagh (meaning 'Brown Mountain' in English) is the highest peak in the Pamir Mountains, and also the highest mountain wholly within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. With an elevation of , it is also the highest mountain out ...

, the highest peak of this somewhat isolated range that is separated from the main chain of the Kunlun by the large

Yarkand River The Yarkand River (or Yarkent River, Yeh-erh-ch'iang Ho) is a river in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of western China. It originates in the Siachen Muztagh in a part of the Karakoram range and flows into the Tarim River or Neinejoung ...

valley, and thus generally included in the "Eastern

". Not far to the north and east of this group are the lowlands of the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

and the

Taklamakan The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a desert in northwest China's Xinjiang region. Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang, it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the n ...

Desert. The

Karakoram Highway The Karakoram Highway (, ), also known as the KKH, National Highway 35 (), N-35, and the ChinaPakistan Friendship Highway, is a National Highways of Pakistan, national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab p ...

passes very close to both peaks as well as Karakul Lake, from which the mountain is conveniently viewed. The closest city is to the mountain is

Tashkurgan Tashkurgan, historically known as Sarikol and Shitoucheng, is a town in the far west of China, close to the country's border with Tajikistan. It is seat of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, in the autonomous region of Xinjiang. Tajiksethnic ...

, the westernmost town in China and very close to the border with

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

History

According to Michael Witzel: The Swedish explorer and geographer

Sven Hedin Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...

made the first recorded attempt to climb Muztagh Ata, in 1894. On his first expedition in 1900

Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. ...

reached the summit while crossing the Karakorum Pass. Additional attempts were made in 1900, 1904 and 1947, the last by the team of

Eric Shipton Eric Earle Shipton, CBE (1 August 1907 – 28 March 1977), was an English Himalayan mountaineer. Early years Shipton was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. When he was e ...

and

Bill Tilman Major (United Kingdom), Major Harold William Tilman, Commander of the British Empire, CBE, Distinguished Service Order, DSO, Military Cross, MC and Bar, (14 February 1898 – November 1977) was an England, English mountaineering, mountaineer ...

who came very close to the summit but were turned back due to cold and deep snow. The first ascent of the peak was in 1956 by a large party of Chinese and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

climbers (including Liu Lianman and Xu Jing) led by E.A. Beletskiy, via the west ridge, which is now the standard route. Since the first ascent, many ascents of Muztagh Ata have been made. In 1980, a party led by Ned Gillette made a ski ascent/descent of the standard route, the first ski ascent of a mountain over . An ascent of the much harder south-east ridge was made in 2000 and a secondary route at the west side of the mountain was first climbed in the summer of 2005. In 2011, the Swedish climber Anneli Wester camped on the summit overnight after climbing the mountain solo and alpine style. In 2013,

Aron Ralston Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker, known for surviving a canyoneering accident by cutting off part of his own right arm. On April 26, 2003, during a solo descent o ...

, the man who famously amputated his own arm during a hiking accident in 2003, made the summit without his compatriot Michael Ash, who sustained a lung injury and was forced to return to base camp.

References

Citations

Sources

* Jill Neate, ''High Asia: An Illustrated History of the 7000 Metre Peaks'', .
Himalayan Index

External links

*
Muztagh Ata on Peakbagger.com

Muztagh Ata on Silk Road Expedition

Muztagh Ata on Lenin Peak Website
{{Authority control Mountains of Xinjiang Seven-thousanders of the Pamir Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County